Switching Time
by gabrielsgirl
Summary: Just a short fic. Needed to have Sara reverse time so I can start over with the new season.


"Switching Time"

  
  


"I'll be out in a sec," Gabriel called from the back room when he heard the front door of his shop open. A moment later he stepped into the main room, and a smile brightened his face. He took his son from his wife and held him in the air above him. The two-year-old kicked his feet and squealed. Gabriel lowered him down, and the small boy wrapped his arms around his father's neck. He swung him onto his shoulders and told Renee, "I was just getting ready to close up."

They started toward the door just as it slammed open. A large brute of a man stood there, blocking the sunlight. Gabriel automatically took a step in front of his family to offer them some protection. The man took another step forward, and Gabriel instantly recognized him. 

It was the man who had attacked them a couple of years before. They had been heading home from Argentina after purchasing an artifact. The man thought he should have it, but Gabriel refused to give it to him. Now, he had obviously not forgotten about that.

"What do you want?" The younger man asked, knowing what the answer would be.

"What belongs to me."

"Well, you can't have that."

"Then, maybe I'll just have to take your wife instead."

"No, you won't," he replied firmly, but a look of fear had entered his eyes.

"Then, give me the stone."

"No."

The man pulled a gun from the waistband of his pants and pointed it at Gabriel's head. "You might want to consider rethinking that."

~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~

Sara was sitting at her desk when the Witchblade drew her into a vision. A man was threatening Gabriel and Renee with a gun. She sensed a feeling of urgency to the vision. When she came out of it, she told Jake, "We need to see Gabriel. I'll meet you at his shop."

Before he could ask any questions, she had left their office. He knew it didn't have anything to do with one of their current cases. He also knew, however, that he would never know the cause of her urgency if he stayed here.

~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~

This wasn't the first time Gabriel had a gun pointed at him. It didn't make him any less scared though. Even though he would never let him know that. 

"Now give the stone to me."

"No way."

"You're being foolish, boy."

"You will not get it."

The man looked behind him, and another man walked into the room. Gabriel let Peter slide from his back and stepped forward to put his family further away from the danger. The other man stepped around him, grabbed Renee by her shirt, and dragged her across the floor. She fell to her knees in front of them. The gun lowered to train on her, and Gabriel finally surrendered. "I will get it."

He walked into the back room, and Peter ran, stumbling after him. "Stay right here," he told his son as he sat him in the corner. 

He grabbed the gun he kept hidden in a box on the top shelf. He had been attacked before in his shop, and didn't want to be in that position again without being able to defend himself. Returning to the main room, he raised the gun to point at the attackers. 

The other man's eyes were livid when he saw the gun. His gun came up, and his finger tightened on the trigger. The bullet ripped through Gabriel's gun arm, traveling up through the arm. It lodged in the muscle of his shoulder, causing him to drop the gun. He fell to the floor in pain and laid on his side. The next shot tore into his abdomen just under his ribs. His eyes glazed over in pain as he desperately clung to life. Renee screamed in anguish, and Peter was wailing in the other room. 

Sara charged into the room just then. The gauntlet came to life as the attackers turned to face her. The two men shot at her, but the metal glove deflected the bullets. One of these ricochets caught Renee between the shoulder blades as she bent over her husband. She fell limp on top of him. The life was leaking from his body, but she was already dead. Gabriel followed her just a moment later. 

Jake followed his partner inside, and the second attacker turned on him. The former California surfer's body was soon riddled with bullets. Sara was facing the first attacker, her back to the one who just killed her partner. She had seen him fall and knew all her friends were gone now. The man behind her drew a knife from his belt and stabbed her just below her rib cage. 

Sara fell to her knees. The gauntlet found its mark in the two men's abdomens. Then, through the excruciating pain, she pulled the small knife from her back. She looked up as an image of Elizabeth Bronte appeared in front of her. "Behold, Sara, time runs both ways. Remember everything you've learned, my dear. Time is elastic, fluid, flexible, reversible. Use it." With that, she disappeared. 

Then, Danny appeared beside her. "Choose, Sara, choose." His hand moved along her face, then he too disappeared. 

The blade extended from the gauntlet, and she thrust her arm into the air. Time stopped for a moment, then traveled backward. Everything played like a tape being rewound. Sara snapped out of a trance, and Danny was sitting in the car beside her.


End file.
